Sean Benham’s Blope is a voyage into segregation, plastic surgery, and religion, and it’s an amazing trip.

Blope is one of those books. I don’t to say it is a classic or a novel written in the manner of some long dead patron of the arts. Instead, Blope is one of those damned-if-I’m-going-to-set-it-down books. At least, I wasn’t going to set it down until I finally knew where all of the threads of the story were heading to and how they were all going to be tied up. That trip was a complete insane run that threw in all sorts of deviations from the normal, safe path most other books in this line take.

Ranging from a Blope (and I had to look that one up) to a fermented human flesh based addictive drink to botched plastic surgery, this book crosses over from crazy into insane with practiced ease. Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t a nonsensical train wreck. This is a highly entertaining, disturbing, twisted read from an author who I will definitely be following in the future.

Seriously, how many books will you find where Gestapo-like police squad are models with little mustaches? Or a segregated civilization where each skin color/colony is denoted by a letter and all is controlled by Taiwan?

I do want to warn you. This book is not meant for young readers, but it is right up the alley of those who like something different in their reading materials. For me, that’s what really stands out about this book. It doesn’t follow the normal expectations and strikes out to shock, appall, and thrill.

I recommend this book to any of you who enjoy the different or the strange. It may not be perfect for everyone, but I really think that you all will enjoy this book for just how off-the-wall it really is.

Take a look at the synopsis below:

Son of Satan and Grandson of the Messiah, Billy Lopez was born with a sordid lineage, an ancestry that has been veiled since birth. Now, he’s a wanted man, forced to flee the only life he has ever known… and where he’s headed isn’t pretty.

Born into The United Prefectures of America, a colony doubling as an experiment in severe racial segregation, Billy was destined for a life of state-controlled mediocrity until he let the most benign element of his forbidden heritage slip. As a white teenager surreptitiously raised in an all-brown Prefecture, his cover has been blown. He has to leave the upper crust privileges of F Prefecture behind and make his escape into M, a dirt poor, bone white Prefecture. One that isn’t listed on any map.

Forced into a harrowing new world of extreme plastic surgery, black market pornography and organized religion gone horribly awry, Billy has to keep his wits about him in order to keep his head on his neck. M Prefecture is best known for two things: cheap life and grisly death. Driven by the mix of divine and profane blood that courses through his veins, he strives to learn the truth about himself and his new surroundings, truths his sheltered upbringing kept hidden.

What Billy finds out about M Prefecture is ugly. What he finds out about himself is downright disgusting. (Synopsis from website).